Due to the relatively recent awareness of advantages of physical fitness and the increasing number of obese people throughout the world, there has been an increased desire to exercise by individuals. Exercising can take any of many forms, for example: jogging, biking, tennis, etc. In addition to these forms of exercise there has been an upsurge of health clubs, fitness centers and the like which have come into being in recent years. Most of them are fitness centers that consist of a gym-like environment wherein members can come to workout on the various types of exercise machines and other exercise equipment. Most of these exercises are undertaken in a non-aquatic environment and tend to dehydrate the body, requiring the individuals to consume large quantities of water while exercising. It is well known that exercising in an aquatic environment is more beneficial to the person doing the exercise because of the resistive force of water being used to promote muscle tone, while the buoyancy of water reduces the likelihood of muscles stress. Exercising in the cool aquatic environment is invigorating and tends to reduce excessive sweating.
The convenience and economy of this adjustable cantilevered aquatic exercise device can be described by the clean modern design, the simplification of the mechanism and the poolside deck mountings or optional diving board attachment means.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,031 of Horst A. Olschewski describes a pool exercise device that includes a pair of supports having upright portions having a slot therein. End members having a regular angular geometric shape are removably positioned in the slots. Rods fixed to the end members project collinearly and are connected by a sleeve. The height of the rods is adjusted by removing the end members from the slots selectively rotating and returning the end members to the slots for securement therein,
This invention offers a similar adjustable exercise bar that mounts on the horizontal poolside decking but does not offer the cantilevered structure that extends out over the pool and does not have the latitude of adjustments of the adjustable cantilevered aquatic exercise device. Also this invention does not offer the option of the adjustable cantilevered aquatic exercise device that removably attaches to the diving board.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,673 of Curtis Erickson discloses an aquatic exercise apparatus having a main frame with accurate upper supports, which are secured, to a pool decking and having lower supports connected thereto. The main frame is provided with a first upper pair and a second lower pair of outwardly projecting arms for user exercise purposes. An exercise platform is pivotally attached to the main frame and is adjustable in any position from vertical to ninety degrees relative to the main frame.
Although this invention has an upper structure that is secured to the pool-decking surface, a portion of the device extends below the surface of the water and rests or is attached to the vertical side of the pool below the surface of the water. Also, this invention does not offer the option of the adjustable cantilevered aquatic exercise device that removably attaches to the diving board of a swimming pool.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,659 of Claudio Silvestri teaches of an invention that relates to an aquatic exerciser or rehabilitation equipment and, particularly, to an exerciser mounted for positioning a user engaging component in a cantilevered configuration over the edge of a swimming pool or other water body. The exerciser suspends user-engaging members over the water and allows the user to carry out various exercises within the pool. Typically, the exercises include body-lifting exercises and in contrast to conventional body lifting exercises carried out outside the water, the force required by the user increases in proportion to the amount of his body that is above the water level. In other circumstances the difficulty may be increased by carrying out certain movements within the water at higher speeds with the water providing a drag force as an increasing function of the speed. Thus, the user can either increase or decrease the difficulty of the exercise easily.
This is another patent that is similar in that it attaches to the pool-decking surface and extends outwardly over the pool surface, but this invention offers no adjustability in the location of the user-engaging members and does not offer the option of the adjustable cantilevered aquatic exercise device that removably attaches to the diving board of a swimming pool.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,961 of Jeffery T. Quint tells of a universal aquatic exercise machine that includes a plurality of exercise devices, for example: a first exercise device rotatably mounted on a base that moves through a rotary path of motion; a second exercise device rotatably connected to the base that moves back and forth in a reciprocating motion; and a third exercise device mounted on the base for reciprocating back and forth motion. The aquatic exercise machine includes a pivoting seat that permits the exercise devices to be performed in either a seated or an erect posture. The exercise devices may have fixed area resistance elements, or variable area resistance elements. In addition, underwater footwear facilitates submerged leg exercises and activities such as sliding, skating and other activities.
This patent describes a device that rests on the bottom of a pool beneath the surface of the water and has a variety of exercise mechanisms, but has no similarities to the adjustable cantilevered aquatic exercise device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,735 of Curtis Erickson describes an aquatic exercise device wherein several embodiments are disclosed. The first embodiment utilizes a unitary aquatic exercise device which is adaptable for use with a conventional pool ladder. The second embodiment is directed to a unitary aquatic exercise device, which is adaptable for use with an inverted pool ladder. Both of these embodiments are readily placed in the vertical position when not in use and are also readily removable from the pool when so desired. A third embodiment utilizes a unitary aquatic device which includes mounting legs that are permanently mounted in recesses of the pool decking. All of these embodiments are made of lightweight PVC components eliminating any corrosion problems and also rendering the device readily cleanable.
This patent describes an invention that attaches to a conventional pool ladder of other existing poolside hand bars. Pool ladders and other hand bars are not designed for the loads put on them by additional apparatus and the leverage incurred by the individuals using these apparatus. Significant damage may be done to the pool by the devices of this kind. This invention is partially submerged below the water level and has no similarities to the adjustable cantilevered aquatic exercise device
U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,171 of Billy Gene Hicks describes an apparatus suspending a detachable accessory adjacent to a vertical wall defining a swimming pool. The apparatus includes a pair of U-shaped arms having base ends fixed outside the swimming pool and cantilever ends supported inside the swimming pool below the base ends. A support bar is rotatably mounted between the arms and includes a plurality of mounting tubes within which a plurality of accessories are detachably mounted.
This patent consists of a mounting system for detachable swimming pool accessories that attaches to the pool-decking surface but also has attachments below the surface of the water on the vertical side of the pool and has no similarities to the adjustable cantilevered aquatic exercise device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,649 of Curtis Erickson et al. tells of an aquatic exercise device which is to be used within a body of water such as a pool and has an element which can be engaged by the foot or hand of an individual linked to a piston-cylinder combination so that as the user engagement element is moved by the user, the piston rides in the cylinder. At the head end of the cylinder there is an opening, which provides communication between the cylinder chamber and the water environment. As the piston moves back and forth water is either pushed out of the chamber through that opening or drawn into the chamber through that opening. The size of the opening, which may be selected by the user, determines the degree of resistance to the user's movement against the user engagement element.
This patent describes an apparatus that mounts to the pool-decking surface, but rests on or attaches to the pool vertical side surface with the majority of the device below the surface of the water. It does not indicate any of the unique capabilities of the adjustable cantilevered aquatic exercise device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,351 of James A. Sizemore III et al. teaches of an aquatic abdominal exercise apparatus having a pair of parallel tubular arms connected together by a first connecting member mounted over a pool deck surface juxtaposed to an edge of a pool. The arms extend downwardly along a side edge of the pool and then turn inwardly to space the apparatus from the pool wall. A second connecting member connects the portion of the arms extending downwardly and a back support is mounted on the second connecting member. A pair of arm supports project outwardly from the portion of the arms extending downwardly to provide hand supports for the exerciser.
This invention mounts to the pool deck surface with arms extending downwardly into the pool to rest against the vertical side with the structure of the device below the surface of the pool and has no similarities to the adjustable cantilevered aquatic exercise device.
Thus there is a continuing need for improving and simplifying the many aquatic exercise devices used by individuals in pools while increasing their capabilities.